The Kids Next Door
by brighter-skies
Summary: Bella&her sister Lauren recently moved to Forks a few years back&are about to start their senior year of high school. While Lauren's considered perfect, Bella is thought of as the exact opposite, but what will happen when a new family moves in next door?
1. Welcome to My Life

**A/N: Hey everyone**

**So this is my first fanfiction...ever. I got the idea a few years ago and wrote bits and pieces here and there but never really had the chance to finish it. Please review! Tell me what you like, don't like, even things you would like to see happen! I'm open to everything and appreciate what you have to say(:**

**PS For each chapter I thought it would be a cool idea if I mentioned the song that helped to inspire me and write the chapter. The first chapter's musical inspiration? Girl Next Door by Copperpot. Check it out!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

Perfect. That's the only anyone ever uses to describe my twin sister, Lauren. Everyone always says how lucky I am to have a perfect sister, I don't see why. To be completely honest, I hate the fact that everyone thinks she's so damn great. It's not that I'm jealous or anything, really, it just gets tiring to have to live up to who everyone expects me to be because of her. First of all, she's absolutely gorgeous. You might be thinking, "But Bella you're twins so you must be gorgeous too!" Beep. Wrong answer. We're fraternal twins, so basically, she lucked out with the wavy blonde hair and ocean blue eyes while I got screwed over with the brown hair and eye combo. It's not that I think I'm ugly, I just know I don't stand out _especially_ when I'm being compared to Lauren.

To make matters worse, I'm terribly clumsy. I trip over literally everything, and I bruise easily…lucky me. My delightful sister on the other hand is the most graceful person I know, she walks with such poise and gracefulness that I often find myself wishing I could be her just so I wouldn't have so many injuries.

Before I get into more details, though, let's backtrack a bit. My name is Isabella Marie Swan, but please just call me Bella...seriously, I'm begging you. I live in Forks, Washington—aka the rainiest place in the continental US, but I really like living here. It's so small, only about 3000 people live here so you know basically everyone which I love.

I'm going to be a senior at Forks High in two days, but I haven't always lived here. Lauren and I moved here a few years back so we could live with our dad, Charlie; our mom thought we should spend some time with him since we never really got a chance to after our parents got divorced. Typical divorced parents? I think not. They actually get along great, more like brother and sister than ex-husband and wife. I think it's fantastic they get along as well as they do—Lauren on the other hand thinks it's strange.

I don't have a lot of friends here, but I do have one. Her name is Mary Alice Brandon, but she goes by Alice. Anyone who so much as thinks about calling her otherwise obviously doesn't value their life very much. She's tiny but fierce, one of the things I love about her.

The second (and more important) reason why I love her is because she's the only person I know on the face of this planet who doesn't like Lauren. It's a part of the reason how we became friends. There's actually a story to it…

_It was the first day of 10th grade, so Lauren and I had been in Forks for about a year. Alice and Lauren had been the best of friends, but Lauren had been changing quickly over a very short amount of time and Alice had been noticing._

_First, it was the drinking. Alice was not a partier and neither was Lauren….until she met a new group of friends over the summer. She'd leave for a party at 6 and not come back until 6 the next night. She said she stayed over at someone's house the night before—but only Alice and I knew what she'd really been doing._

_After this had been going on for a while, Lauren started becoming easily annoyed with Alice. It got to the point where Alice would call and Lauren would tell me to answer and say she wasn't home. It was very difficult for me to understand why that was because Alice was such sweetheart, but I did as I was told._

_Once it had been going on for a while, I decided I couldn't take it anymore. On the first day of sophomore year, I went up to Alice and flat out told her because the guilt was eating away at me. Alice was pissed, naturally, and started hanging out with me instead of Lauren._

"_Thanks for telling me again, Bella," Alice would say to me all the time, "it's nice to know that just because you're related to a bitch, you're not like them."_

Lauren never really understood why Alice stopped talking to her, but she didn't really care either. I still hate that she put my best friend through that. Alice didn't deserve any of Lauren's crap; she's too sweet and caring.

So, back to living in a small town, not much happens around here. The biggest news spreading around right now is that people are moving into the house next door. I haven't heard much, but I do know that it's a family of 5 and all three kids are in high school, which should be interesting. Goodness knows Lauren will have a new boyfriend by the end of the month if these new kids are at all like everyone else around here.

What's really funny about the entire situation is that _everyone_ is talking about the new people (I told you the town was small). They're all guessing what they may be like and if they'll be nice or not. Alice and I aren't doing any of that. Though we are being their tour guides when they start school. Alice is super excited to do it because she thinks all three will want to hang out with us. I'm just doing it because it will look good on a college application. I'm kind of scared though you know why? Whenever Alice gets these feelings, they are normally right.

This will be an interesting year.

**A/N **

**What did you guys think? Let me know in a review! Until next time! xoxo**


	2. Meeting the Cullens

**A/N:**

**Hey guys! Sorry this took so long, I've been really busy with school and stuff, but no worries! I have the next few chapters drafted and they will hopefully be up soon. Hope you're all doing well! Xoxo**

**PS This chapter's song inspiration is Somewhere Only We Know by Keane**

This is it. I never thought that this day would come, I am now officially a senior in high school. It really doesn't feel any different; my day began the same as usual with Alice telling me that I need to work on my self-confidence on the way to school.

She told me, "You should come shopping with me so we can redo your wardrobe! That would definitely help!"

"No!" I cried, I really couldn't take an entire day devoted to shopping, especially with Alice. I valued my life too much.

"Please, Bella, you have no idea what it would mean to me!" Then she gave me the puppy dog face, but I wasn't falling down that trap….again.

"Alice you know how much I hate shopping", I whined.

"If you come with me I promise I won't pick anything that's too far out of your comfort zone, I'll even let you pick a few things out!, just _please_!", she pleaded.

"Fine", I muttered, not please with how this day was starting, "but why do you want me to go shopping with you so badly?" She was never this insistent about me going with her, she would usually just give up after 20 minutes and go with her cousin , Rosalie, anyway.

"You'll soon find out and you'll love me even more than already when you do!"

"Alice, you _know_ how much I hate surprises, so now you have to tell me!" I absolutely hated surprises and she knew that.

"Not a chance", she smirked, "this time, though, I think you'll be able to figure it out. Now let's get to class."

I hadn't realized that we were already at school so I jumped out of the car and got ready for my first day as a senior.

The day was going pretty well, minus the fact that I had no biology partner. It was kind of depressing to just be sitting there at a lab table by yourself when everyone else in the room had someone to share their misery with.

At lunch, Alice and I got talking about how we would greet the new kids the next morning. We this right as Lauren walked by with her boyfriend, Mike, and her friend Jessica. They suddenly became very interested in our conversation and I hadn't the faintest idea why. Lauren _never_ talks to me at school. It was the most awkward experience of my life, but the bell rang…..finally.

I didn't get home until around 7 because of the whole shopping thing with Alice. When she dropped me off though there were a bunch of moving trucks in the driveway next door.

"Oh I'm so excited!", Alice exclaimed, "I mean how often do people move _here_ to Forks? The last people to move here were you and Lauren!"

"I guess it's kinda cool", I replied, "I just hope they don't worship my sister like everyone else does. It would be especially bad because they live right next door."

"Yeah, that would really suck", Alice said. "But I have a good feeling about them, even though we haven't met them yet. I have to go though, I'll see you tomorrow Bells so we can show around these new kids."

"Wee." I answered sarcastically. Then I got out of the car, bags in hand, and went straight upstairs to bed.

_KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND_

I woke up the next morning at around 6 because I really don't need that much time to get ready, unlike most girls (aka Alice). Knowing her, she was probably up an hour before me to do her hair and makeup. I laughed to myself. Alice will be Alice.

I threw on a dark pair of skinny jeans and a midnight blue v-neck sweater that Alice forced me to buy the day before. I had no idea what to do with my hair so I just left it down. After that, I just threw on a pair of black riding boots, brushed my teeth, and went to my car. It was days like today I was glad Lauren didn't need a ride to school, she refused to ride with me if she had other options (aka Mike).

It didn't take me quite as long as normal to drive to school because there was a lack of traffic since I was earlier this morning. When I pulled into the parking lot though, I saw a shiny silver Volvo. Who could possibly afford one of those? I guessed it was one of the new kids.

I quickly made my way to the office and found Alice.

"Hey", I greeted.

"Morning Bells!", she chirped, come on let's go meet the new Cullens!"

Cullen. So that was their last name. It's kind of cool. Just as I thought that we walked into the room and saw 3 guys sitting on the couch. They were all very good looking, but I couldn't keep from staring at the one on the far right. He had really messy almost copper looking hair, unlike anything I had ever seen, and the most beautiful green eyes…ever. He was absolutely gorgeous.

He caught me staring at him much to my dismay. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as a result of this. He didn't laugh or anything like everyone normally does, instead he gave me a small, crooked smile. If I had thought he was gorgeous before, he was now god-like. I had never been attracted to a guy as quickly I had been to him.

I snapped out of my trance when Ms Cope said, "Gentlemen, these are your tour guides, Mary Alice Brandon and Isabella Swan." We cringed at the use of our full names.

She then turned to us and said "Girls, these are our new students, Emmett, Jasper, and Edward Cullen."

Edward looked to me and smiled. All I could think was Edward. His name was Edward. Beautiful; just like him.

_KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND*KND_

"Well", Alice whispered, "let's get this party started!" she walked over to the boys.

"Hi! I know Ms Cope said my name was Mary Alice but you can just call me Alice" she said.

"And you can just call me Bella", I added shyly, "everyone does."

"Okay Bella let's divide and conquer based on our schedules", she continued while taking the boy's schedules from them. "Emmett, I think that you have almost every class with my cousin, Rosalie, I'll introduce you to her". She then looked at Jasper's schedule, "Jasper you have every class with me" she almost whispered in awe "I'll show you around in a minute". I instantly knew she liked him and, based on his reaction, he seemed attracted to her as well.

"Okay that would be great", he answered shyly; it was adorable.

She giggled and then looked at Edward's schedule. "Oh wow, Edward you have every class with Bella, I'll let her give you the tour" she said almost as if she wasn't surprised at all. She looked at me knowingly; obviously she caught me staring at him only moments before.

"Sure that sounds good", he said while giving me yet another beautifully crooked smile. I could feel my heart beating faster.

I then walked over to him once Alice, Emmett, and Jasper had left and said, "Hey I'm Bella, but you've obviously heard that already." I laughed nervously, why was I acting like this?

"Yeah but I don't mind. I'm Edward, but you're heard that already," he smirked, "It's nice to meet you Bella."

"Same here", I replied, "well let's give you a tour before everyone else gets here. Just warning you now, they'll be all over you. It's not very often people move here and it gets kind of crazy. I would know because the last people to move here were my sister and I a few years back, we were basically assaulted." I laughed at the memory.

He laughed too and I swear it was the most beautiful sound in the entire world. "Okay then, let's go."

I gave him the full-fledged tour and we actually got along really well. I tripped of course which could only have been expected. Just as I thought I was going to hit the ground, however, I was caught by a pair of strong, nicely toned arms. My heart skipped a beat when I realized Edward had caught me. We finished just as the first early birds were starting to come in.

"Well", I asked, "what do you want to do?"

"Can you show me around the outside campus?" he questioned.

"Sure", I agreed, "I do know this one place where I like to go sometimes." I didn't normally tell let alone show people my spot, but Edward seemed like a really good guy so I figured why not?

"Cool", he said, "let's go."

We walked for a while outside until we reached a small meadow about 100 feet into the forest behind the school. Whenever I needed some alone time I came here and it was always calming to me, I hoped Edward would think the same as well.

"This is really nice", Edward said once we arrived, "how did you find this place?"

"One day during freshman year, Alice was sick and I went exploring on my own." I said. "You see Alice is really my only friend so when she's gone I get kind of lonely." I blushed at how pathetic I sounded.

"Didn't you say you had a sister? Why don't you just hang out with her?" he asked.

"It's…complicated."

"I'm sure I can keep up" he smiled.

"Okay I'll give you the shortened version; basically Lauren and I are fraternal twins. We're not alike in any shape, or form with the exception of being blood related" I continued, "You see, Lauren's perfect—she's beautiful, popular, and everyone wants to be friends with her if not _be _her. I, on the other hand, am the complete opposite. I'm shy, dangerously clumsy, and not nearly as pretty."

"That's not true at all", he said. My face turned bright pink. "I think you're beautiful", he said shyly, "especially with that blush." It only made me blush even more; no boy had ever said anything so sweet and genuine to me…ever.

He looked like he wanted to add something else but of course that was when the bell rang and off we went to first period.

**A/N: What do you think? What do you want to happen? Do you like it? Please review and let me know! They make me upload faster(:**


	3. Expect the Unexpected

**Hi everyone!**

**First of all I am so, SO sorry about not uploading in a while. I've been so busy lately between school and sports and...well life. Because I feel so bad about not uploading I'm going to try to get another chapter up by the end of the weekend. Yeah, that's right, that's how much I love you all. (: Anyways, let me know what you think! xoxo**

**Oh! I almost forgot! This chapter's musical inspiration is With or Without You by U2 (:**

By the end of the first semester Alice and I were the best of friends with Jasper, Emmett, and Edward. Rosalie was even making it a point to hang out with us as well since she and Emmett were now officially together. It turns out that they went to camp together when they were told her he had never stopped thinking about her since that summer. Seeing as Emmett is just so big, it's kind of funny seeing him around her because when they're together he turns into a giant teddy bear. Watching them together is the cutest thing ever but at the same time also makes me want to slit my wrist because I know I would never have a relationship as complete and true like them.

Alice went on her second date with Jasper this past Friday. She was so excited; it was all she talked about on Saturday when she called me. It was such a detailed description that if I told anyone about it they'd think it was me who went out with him. It's strange; I've never seen her like this before. She most definitely is _not_ the girl who is all "OMG my boyfriend!", but she is different in a way. Her treats her right though and that's the most important part.

As for Edward, I don't even know where to begin. He's my best friend. I can tell him anything and he's just amazing at everything. I think I'm falling in love with him though which sucks because I already know how it will end if I do. My heart will be broken and he'll be happy with whatever beautiful girl captures his heart. He is absolutely gorgeous and every girl wants him. Lauren and Jessica are all over him but whenever they come onto him he just politely declines, conveniently bringing Mike into the conversation. I'm almost positive she forgets that she and Mike are dating whenever Edward is around. I don't think he realizes the effect he has on anyone. All he has to do is give them his beautiful crooked smile and they'd give him anything he asked for.

I haven't told anyone about my feelings for Edward—not even Alice. Sure she's my best girl friend but I don't want her to feel bad for me when he finally does date someone. Also, _if_ she knew my life would become hell. She would do anything to get us together which would just end up embarrassing me. Why would he ever even look at me anyway? He can have literally any girl he wants and they'd gladly take him.

Other than that though nothing really as gone on in a while except that the Winter Ball is coming up. I already know for a fact that no one will ask me, but for whatever reason Alice thinks otherwise.

"I know someone who wants to ask you, Bella", she said, "he's just too damn shy to do actually do it." I wondered who it could possibly be but knew that even if it was true there was only one person who I wanted it to be. It would never be him though.

"Come on Bella, we're gonna be late." She said and we were out the door to the Cullens.

The Cullen's house had pretty much become my second home over the past few months. Edward's parents, Esme and Carlisle, always said that Alice, Rose, and I were welcome any time. They were too sweet; I love them dearly. Apparently they loved me too because they'd told me on a number of occasions that they thought so highly of me.

We got there and walked right into the house. Rose was already inside sitting on Emmett's lap in deep conversation with him. Once Alice saw Jasper she followed the trend. This left Edward and I to awkwardly pretend like being in this situation wasn't uncomfortable at all.

"Hey!", I greeted.

"Hi Bells," he replied.

"They kind of get irritating after a while", I said, gesturing over to the 2 happy couples.

"Yeah you're right", he agreed, flashing me his gorgeous smile.

"So who asked you to the Winter Ball today?" I joked. Each day there were at least 4 girls who asked if he wanted to go.

"Well both Jessica and Lauren both asked me...again" , he stated, "and then there was this freshman I didn't know."

For whatever reason this made me laugh much louder than I intended to, which of course caused everyone to snap out of their love trances and look at me. I turned bright red and they all started laughing hysterically.

"I'll be right back." I said and then ran off to the bathroom to get a hold of myself. I don't know how he did this to me. One minute I'd be acting like a normal human being and then he'd say something that'd cause me to turn into a tomato.

Once my face was back to normal color, I started to walk back to the living room. Right before I stopped since I heard everyone talking in hushed voices.

"…if you don't ask her to the Ball soon E you'll miss out." said Emmett.

"Yeah", Alice agreed, "she's already got it in her head that no one will ask her so you need to get your ass moving!"

"I want to", Edward said quietly, "but what if she says no." He seemed sad, nervous, but most of all….vulnerable. My heart couldn't help but ache as I heard him speak though, the thought of him being with someone else hurt so bad my heart actually hurt.

"Ha!", Alice said, "I know for a fact that she'll say yes, she really likes you, E! I've never seen her this way about a guy before. It's adorable but at the same time really annoying, you two just need to confess you're undying love for one another and have babies already."

"Okay…the next time I get the chance I'll ask her." Edward responded, "I just hope you're right."

That was when my heart dropped down to my feet. I was absolutely heartbroken. Who was this girl? Did she not realize that she was the luckiest girl to ever live on this planet? I couldn't take it anymore, I had to walk in the room so they couldn't say anymore. I walked in and resume my spot next to him on the couch where I'd been before.

"Oh, I had no idea what time it is," Emmett said, "I'm gonna be late for work."

"I'll give you a ride there babe." Rose said and away they went.

"Jazz, we should probably get started on our project now." Alice said and they headed up to his room. I highly doubted there'd be any studying going on though.

Once we were alone Edward suggested we go upstairs to his room to study for our biology test. I gathered my things and followed him up the steps. I went to put my stuff on his bed and when I turned around he was right next to me, our knees brushing. I stopped breathing.

"Bells, I need to tell you something," he began, "I just..I don't know how to say it."

"Just put it out there, E", I managed to squeak out. I still was trying to recover from his closeness. "You can tell me anything."

"That's what I love about you, Bella", he said, "One of so many things I love about you." He brushed my hair away from my face. I blushed a deep red.

"What are you getting at, Edward?" I asked, hoping he didn't realize my face was so flushed.

"I'm saying that I love being around you Bells", he whispered, "I love who I am when I'm with you, how you make me feel. I don't want someone to come along and say the same things I'm telling you now. I want to be the only person who can say these things. I think I'm falling in love with you Bella. You're my best friend but I want to be more." He stopped to take a breath for a moment before continuing quietly, "I know it's a lot to take in, but I just had to let you know."

I was beyond words at that point. I simply couldn't deal with hearing this. It was like all of my dreams were coming true at once. I didn't know how to respond other than smiling hugely.

"Edward, I don't think how relieved I am to hear you say that." I started "When I heard you taking to Alice earlier about asking someone to the Ball it made me want to lock myself up in my room and cry. I feel the exact same way." I was so incredibly happy, I didn't know how else to express my emotions.

As soon as I said that the biggest smile flashed across his face. He looked angelic. I was almost positive that my day couldn't get any better until he took my face in his hands and looked at my lips. When he brought our faces closer my heart was racing faster than a cheetah sprinting at its top speed.

Our lips finally touched. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. He brought his hands up to my hair and began kissing me more deeply. I was ecstatic, bringing my arms around his neck. As we went on, I began feeling more adventurous and pushed him on his back but when we went down our noses hit together. In other situations it might have been awkward but we just laughed because that was the type of relationship we had. He pulled back though and kissed my nose, making sure it was okay.

It was perfect.

**Yay Edward and Bella finally kissed! How was this chapter? Did you like it? Let me know in a review! Any feedback is greatly appreciated(: ALSO, if you have a song that you want me to base a chapter around let me know in a review or PM as well! Love you all and hope you had a most wonderful Thanksgiving! xoxo**


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